I live in Southeastern Japan (near Tokyo) and it is potato planting time here. I planted some "May Queen" potatoes just this past weekend. I dug a furrow and laid down some premixed potato fertilizer. They tend to have a lot of premixed fertilizers here for different plants.
I covered that with about an inch of soil and placed the potatoes in about 10 inches apart. I covered the potatoes with another inch or two of soil and placed about 4 inches of pine needles on top of that. Lastly I partially covered the pine needles with a bit of soil.
Once the plants emerge and get to about a 8 inches tall i plan to add a bit more fertilizer, some more needles and hill them up a bit.
The climate here is much different to anywhere I have gardened in the US. Many things grow better in the cooler seasons here and it gets very hot and humid in the summer.
Anyone in the US planting potatoes yet?
John
